Wool treatment



atented @et. 26, teas l'lolver E. Dyer, Winchester, Mata, assignin to wilcnsantowflhemicai @Dompany, at. Louis, lilo a aeration or Delaware l lo Drag. application i 'ebrnary 2t, liilit, aerial l lo, teaser let. it)

9 Claims,

The present invention relates to the preparation or wool tor spinning, and more particularly to the combing of wool by the so-called Bradford system or process.

Wool and like textile fibers must be subjected to a number of well=lrnown treatments prior to be spun into yarn. Generally, it is first scoured and washed to remove dirt and grease, after which it is carded to make its fibers parallel and for them into a continuous rope-like sliver. The scoured and carded wool is then usually baclr washed and dried to provide it with a predatened moisture content. The backwashing also removes fine scales or dandrufl from the wool, and in some instances is carried out in such a manner as to whiten the wool.

lifter passing over the dryers the wool is impregnated withoil, usually olive oil, in amounts suficient to provide from 2.5 to 3.0% of oil based on the weight of the wool. The oiled wool is then subjected to gilling, which is a combination or draiting and crude carding and also serves to in the oil. The drafting during gilling is generally regulated in such a way as to produce a silver weighing about eight ounces per yards. 'll'he sliver coming from the gills is then wound to form cornb balls suitable for use on a so-called Noble comb, which is the type of comb usually used in treating wool by the Bradford system. After being combed, the wool is sometimes oiled again, and upon being drawn is ready for spinning. The oil added to the wool in the course of the above treatment serves to lubricate the wool during the combing and hence to reduce the noiiage or short fibers formed during combing. It also acts as an anti-static agent during the spinning, or in any case reducesfriction, which in turn reduces the amount of static produced.

The Noble comb has been widely used for many years for combing wool being treated according did to the Bradford system. Essentially a comb oi the Noble type comprises a brass ring about 10 to ll feet in circumference and about 3 inches wide, called the large circle, and a pair of smaller rings about 18 inches in diameter and about 1 inch wide, called the small circles. The two small circles operate within and on opposite sides of the large circle and are tangential with the large circle at diametrically opposed points. 4 All of the circle rotate about vertical axes, the large circle usually rotating at about 4 to 5 revolutions per minute and the small circles at about 10 to 11 revolutions per minute. Thus, the speed of rota tion of each circle is adjusted so as to provide equal linear velocities at the pointsoi tangency or the circles. Each of the circles is provided on its upper surface with a plurality of rows of closely spaced vertically extending steel pins or teeth, which cooperate with the pins or teeth or an adjacent circle to exert a combing action on the wool slivers placed thereon.

'The comb balls containing the wound slivers prepared as previously described are carried by a revolving irarne which rotates with the large circle, and are positioned concentrically around the outer periphery of the large circle. The slivers emanating from the comb balls are fed to the circle teeth through feed boxes, one for each sliver, which are also concentrically arranged around the large circle. To insure thorough combing oi the wool by the teeth of the cooperating circles, when the slivers reach the points or tangency oi the large and small circles, they are pressed down into the teeth of the circles by rapidly reciprocating dabbing brushes. Upon further rotation of the circles, the short fibers of the wool are separated from the long fibers, the

long fibers remaining to a large extent on the large circle, while the short fibers are drawn off by the small circles. Suitable means, including closely spaced and oppositely moving belts and rollers, are used to nip ed the long fibers protruding from the inner periphery of the large circle, and as a small proportion of long fibers are retained by the small circles, similar devices are used to nip off fibers protruding from the outer periphery of these circles. The long fibers obtained in this way are united to form a single sliver, which is then ready for subsequent treatment.

The short fibers or noll remaining in the teeth of the mall circles travel almost entirely around the small circles and are then removed by means of plows, which extend down between the teeth or the small circles. Similarly, those portions of the slivers remaining on the large circle after passing the nippers are raised just before reaching the next dabbing brush by stationary lifting bars or plows to a position above the pins. The slivers are then fed onto a plate, where they automatically straighten themselves out. Since an additional length of the slivers has been previously ied by the feed boxes, this straightening out causes the slivers to extend a short distance beyond the inner periphery of the large circle. Thus, when the slivers reach the dubbing brush, they are pressed not only into the teeth of the large circle but also into the teeth of the adjacent small circle, and the cycle of operations described above is repeated.

-It is not considered necessary to describe the Noble comb in greater detail as this invention is not concerned with the construction of the Noble comb, but rather with a new method of lubricating wool which is to be combed on the Noble comb. Numerous patents exist which describe the Noble comb in greater detail. Moreover, a good description of its essential features can be found on pages 381 to 385 of the American Wool Handbook, published in 1938 by the National Association of Wool Manufacturers. 1

As previously indicated, the 2 to 3% of oil added to the wool in the course of its preparation for combing and spinning serves to lubricate the wool and hence to reduce the noilage or short fibers formed during the combing operation. It also acts as an anti-static agent during the spinning, or in any case reduces friction, which in turn reduces the amount of static produced. It has been found, however, that the use of oil in the above amounts in wool treatment has numerous disadvantages. For example, oil in the above amounts is dimcult to wash out, discolors on standing, and is subject to rancidity, oxidation and hardness. Moreover, it has recently been discovered that certain alkyl phosphates in amounts of 1 to 3% are superior to oil as antistatic agents during spinning. These phosphates are highly water-soluble and hence do not ofier the difliculties of removal which oil does. They are also free of the other objections of olive oil or other wool lubricating oil. The allryl phosphates, however, are not good combing lubricants, and actually interfere with satisfactory operation of the comb. Thus, when alkyl phosphates are used in spinning, it has up to this time been necessary to comb the wool without phosphates, and also W (without oil). Wool which has not been impregnated with oil in the manner described above actually contains from 0.2 to 0.35% of natural wool grease plus olive oil, but is nevertheless generally known as W0 or "unoiled wool.

"Unoiled wool is generally not used in the Bradford system of treating wool, since, except in the case of coarse wool, it results in about 1% higher noilage than wool impregnated with 2 to 3% of oil. This does not sound like a large increase in noilage, but to the wool comber it is important, with the result that he usually prefers to comb and spin the wool with oil rather than comb unoiled wool and spin with phosphates, in spite of the many advantages of spinning with phosphates. In some instances, however, "unoiled wool must be combed, and in such cases it would be highly desirable to obtain noilage as low in amount as oiled wool noilage. This can be readily understood when it is considered that long fibered or top wool brings about 50 a pound more than the noil.

It is, accordingly, a primary object of the present invention to provide a method of combing W0 or unoiled" wool without increasing the noilage above that obtained when combing oiled wool.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of combing wool without first impregnating the wool with oil with the result that the wool does not require expensive and time-consuming washing operations either before or after the spinning.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method of combing "unoiled wool which does not produce noilage in excess of that obtained with oiled wool and which leaves the wool in a satisfactory condition for spinning with phosphates or other highly water-soluble spinning agents.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description and appended claims. Before enplaining in detail the present invention, howevenit is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details described herein, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art..

The invention is in general carriedout by supplying balls of "unoiled wool to the comb, feeding the slivers up through the feed boxes and into contact with the pins or teeth of the comb circles in the usual manner, and simultaneously oiling the teeth with from 0.1 to 1.0% of olive oil or other suitable wool lubricant based on the wool weight. Preferably, the oil is not supplied in an amount in excess of 0.5% based on the wool weight, as larger amounts do not improve the combing action and it is usually desirable to conserve oil. Moreover, it is also desirable that as little oil as possible be supplied to insure minimum absorption of oil by the wool.

The oil may be supplied in any desired manner, but it is important that the teeth be uniformly covered with a thin film of the oil. This may be accomplished by spraying, or even more satisfactorily by the wiping action of the oil saturated bristles of asuitably arranged brush. A satisfactory arrangement of this nature comprises, for example, a brush having a hollowed out top portion and a plurality of apertures leading from the hollowed out portion to the bristles, a cylinder for holding a suitable amount of oil, and a pipe or tube for feeding the oil to the hollowed out portion of the brush. The entire unit should be supported in such a manner as to position the bristles of the brush in contact with the teeth of the comb circles. This is preferably done at a point above each circle between the plow and the dabbin brush. Thus, four separate oiling devices could be used with each comb. It should be understood, however, that in many instances it is only necessary to oil the teeth of the large circle to get satisfactory results, in which case only two oiling devices would be required, one for each dabbing brush. In the case of the large circle the brushes can be inserted under the straightening plate located on the approach side of each dabbing brush.

Any suitable means may be provided for permitting the oil to flow from the cylinder to the brush at the desired rate. For example, a cylinder-finger feed similar to that used at present to supply oil at the gills may be used. Moreover, an ordinary sight feed lubricator may be satisfactorily employed, when properly calibrated. The main thing is to provide a controlled feed which supplies oil at a rate proportionate to the rate of feed of the wool slivers. Preferably, the feed mechanism should be geared to the comb, so that when the comb stops the feed of oil will also stop.

The comparative effect of oiling and not oiling the pins or teeth of the comb circles upon nollage production during the combing of unoiled" wool can be seen from the following tests:

sesame we wool slivers which had been baclr washed in the usual manner and weighed uounches per yards were combed in a Noble comb provided with brushes for oiling the teeth of all three of its circles. The rate of production and the per cent noil produced, with 0.5% of oil (based on the wool weight) supplied to the circle teeth, were recorded at intervals over a period of 82 minutes. The flow oi oil was then stopped and the brushes removed. The combing was then continued for another 32% minutes, while recording at intervals the rate oi. production and the per cent noil produced. e recorded results follow:

Duration Produo Test oi test tion rate OIL FLOWING Minutes EBB-IP61. Per cent lb CUPS A D BRUSHES REMOVED it can be readily seen from the results of the above tests that the average per cent oi noil obtained with oil flowing to the circle pins is about 1% less than the average per cent of noil obtained without oil on the pins. As it is well recognized that W0 or "unoiled wool normally produces noilage about 1% greater in amount than oiled wool (containing 3% of oil based on the wool weight in and on the fibers), it can also be readily seen that by oiling the circle pins instead of the wool it is possible to comb "unoiled wool with noilage as low as that of oiled wool. This is of considerable importance to the wool industry, as it not only means an increase in the production of top wool, but it permits the use of water-soluble substitutes, such as allryl phosphates, in the spinning operation. Alhyl phosphates are decidedly superior to olive oil as anti-static agents, and are for this reason alone exceedingly useful in spinning. They are also preferred as splng agents, however, because oi the ease with which they may be washed out of the wool. Thus, there is now every reason for considering "unoiled wool is preferable to oiled wool in the preparation of dine worsted yarns by the Bradford system.

Although onlyone form of pin oiling device has been described, it should be understood that other devices capable oi supplying oil to the pins by a wiping action may be employed with equally good results. Spraying devices may also be used, although these in general are less desirable, since they tend to cover the pins with separate drops of oil, which tend to be absorbed to a greater extent by the wool than a thin uniformly applied film of oil. In this connection, it should be understood, however, that even if all of the oil supplied to the pins is absorbed by the wool, this is not detrimental, since wool combed with as much as 1% of oil supplied to the pins can still be considered as meeting W0 wool specifications.

Olive oil is the preferred oil tor the purposes of plying from 0.1 to 1.0%

the invention, but other vegetable oils may also be employed, if desired. It is also possible to use animal and mineral oils, as so little of the 'oil is supplied to or absorbed by the wool according to the present invention. Thus, there is no harm in using an oil, which if absorbed by the wool in amounts as high as 3%, as in prior methods, would be diiiicult to remove or otherwise deleterlous It is believed that the primary cause of era cessive noilage is the breakage of the fibers resulting from metal to fiber friction, particularly at the point of separation of the large and small circles and at the nlppers. The rapid pull of the large circle nipper upon the fibers at a angle to the normal direction of movement of the fibers is probably the most common source or fiber breakage. Regardless of the cause of excessive noilage, however, this tendency may be in-- ished by oiling the circle pins in the manner described herein. Moreover this desirable result is obtained without impregnating the wool with excessive amounts of oil, which usually requires extensive washing for removal.

although it is in general preferable not to apply phosphates to the wool until after the combing, these substances may be applied to coarse wools prior to the combing without sub stantial increase in noilage production, provided the comb circle pins are oiled in the manner described herein.

I claim:

1. In the art or combing unoiled wool with a Noble type comb the step which comprises sup-=- plying a small amount of a, wool lubricating oil to the circle pins of the comb simultaneously with the feeding or the wool therethrough.

2. In the art of combing unoiled wool with a Noble type comb the step which comprises supplying a small amount of olive oil to the circle pins of the comb simultaneously with the feeding of the wool therethrough.

3. In the art of combing unoiled wool with a Noble type comb the step which comprises sup-- by weight of a wool the weight of the wool circle pins of the comb the feeding of the wool lubricating oil based on being combed to the simultaneously with therethrough.

d. The method of combing fine woolwhich comprises feeding slivers of said wool in an "unoiled condition through a Noble type comb and simultaneously supplying a small amount oi a wool lubricant to the teeth of the circles of said comb at points adjacent to and on the approach side of the points of tangency of said circles.

5. The method of combing fine wool which comprises feeding slivers of said wool in an uhoiled condition through a Noble type comb and simultaneously providing a thin film of a wool lubricant to the circle teeth of said comb at points adjacent to andon the approach side of the dabbing brushes of said comb.

6. The method of combing fine wool which comprises continuously feeding slivers of said wool in an unoiled condition through a Noble type comb and simultaneously providing a thin film-of a wool lubricating oil to the teeth of the large circle of said comb at points adjacent to and on the approach side of the points of tangency of said large circle with the small circles of said comb.

'7. The method of combing fine wool which comprises continuously feeding slivers of said wool in an unoiled" condition through a Noble type comb and simultaneously supplying olive oil to the circle teeth of said comb at points adjacent to and on the approach side of the dabbing brushes of said comb, said oil being supplied continuously in amounts of 0.1 to 1.0% by weight based on the .weight of the wool being treated.

8. The method of combing fine wool which comprises feeding slivers of said wool in an unoiled" condition through a Noble type comb and simultaneously spraying a small amount of a wool lubricant on the circle teeth of said comb w piled on said teeth by a wiping action.

COLVER P. DYER. 

